Flora of North America species comparison

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Vicia nigricans

Vicia nigricans var. gigantea

black vetch, giant vetch, spring vetch, tiny vetch
Photo is of parent taxon

giant vetch
Habit Herbs perennial.
Stems

climbing, robust, 6–20 dm.
Leaves

9–23 cm;

tendrils usually branched;

stipules foliose, semisagittate, without nectariferous patch;

leaflets 16–30, blades ovate to lanceolate, 15–75 × 4–20 mm, apex obtuse, surfaces sparsely appressed-pubescent.
Inflorescences

6–25-flowered, 5–25 cm, somewhat shorter than subtending leaf rachis.
Flowers

15–25 mm;

calyx base symmetric, lobes unequal, longest one equal to tube;

corolla reddish purple to yellowish, banner oblong, blade equal to claw, glabrous;

style compressed abaxially, evenly pubescent throughout.
Legumes

black, oblong, 33–55 × 10–20 mm, oblique-tipped, glabrous;

stipe to 4 mm.
Seeds

3 or 4, purplish black, subglobose, 5–6 mm diam.;

hilum encircling 3/4+ circumference of seed.
2n

= 14.

Vicia nigricans

Vicia nigricans var. gigantea
Phenology Flowering May–Jul.
Habitat Upper margins of beaches, meadows, clearings, stream banks, thickets, mesic for­ests, open, coniferous forests, roadsides, forest edges.
Elevation 0–100 m. (0–300 ft.)
Distribution
from USDA
w North America; s South America (Argentina, Chile)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; CA; OR; WA; BC
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 2 (1 in the flora).

Variety nigricans is known from Pacific coastal areas of southern South America.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

J. S. Lassetter and C. R. Gunn (1979) made a case for combining the common North American Pacific Coast taxon Vicia gigantea with V. nigricans of the South American Pacific Coast.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 11. FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Vicia Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Vicia > Vicia nigricans
Sibling taxa
V. acutifolia, V. americana, V. benghalensis, V. caroliniana, V. cracca, V. disperma, V. faba, V. floridana, V. grandiflora, V. hassei, V. hirsuta, V. lathyroides, V. leucophaea, V. ludoviciana, V. lutea, V. minutiflora, V. narbonensis, V. ocalensis, V. pannonica, V. pulchella, V. sativa, V. sepium, V. tetrasperma, V. villosa
Subordinate taxa
V. nigricans var. gigantea
Synonyms V. gigantea, V. nigricans subsp. gigantea
Name authority Hooker & Arnott: Bot. Beechey Voy., 20. (1830) (Hooker) Broich: Madroño 54: 70. (2007)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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